Cold Cases: Investigator working brutal attack that left veteran dead 26 years ago

Jim Smith was attacked Dec. 3, 1987 and died 4 1/2 months later

Published: Saturday, October 26, 2013 at 10:55 p.m.

Last Modified: Saturday, October 26, 2013 at 10:55 p.m.

On a cool December morning nearly 26 years ago, Jim Smith had breakfast at a favorite cafe. Someone snapped a photo that shows the military veteran smiling, wearing a white, collared shirt and bundled up in a black, leather jacket. It would be the last photo of him alive.

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Just a few hours later, Smith would be fighting a losing battle for his life.

On Dec. 3, 1987, Smith was brutally attacked by an unknown intruder, shortly after walking through the door of the rural home on Murph Road in Pauline he shared with his girlfriend. The 45-year-old was hit multiple times in the head with a hammer, causing wounds so extensive that Smith never regained consciousness. He died four-and-a-half months later in a hospital bed.

Allan Wood, cold case investigator with the Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office, said that, even many years later, it's still a case that stands out in his mind. Someone, he said, knows something about why the crime was committed and by whom.

"I'd like to think we talked to the person who did this, but I don't know," Wood said.

Smith's girlfriend arrived home first that Thursday afternoon, according to reports. An unknown person, who she described to investigators at the time as sounding like a white man, was waiting inside the house when she walked through the door. He put something over her head and hit her.

Smith, a salesman with a communications company, came home a short time later and was also attacked.

According to a Herald-Journal article from July 5, 1988, police said that for about an hour, the man alternated between beating Smith and raping his girlfriend.

"I would say a person of no conscience did this. A person who is very cold, very brutal," Lt. Mike Ennis is quoted as saying in the article. "It's extremely rare to find the type of person with a psychological makeup that would allow them to beat, and beat, and beat on someone."

Smith's girlfriend was eventually able to escape and flagged down a passing truck. The driver took her to a neighbor's house, and authorities were called.

Spartanburg County Coroner Rusty Clevenger was on the scene within six minutes, arriving at 5:22 p.m., according to an incident report. He was on uniform patrol with the sheriff's office at the time and not long out of the academy. Looking back on that day, Clevenger remembers finding a woman, partially clothed, beaten and obviously shaken.

"All (homicides) kind of etch a memory in your mind, and with this one, it was the image of the woman in distress," Clevenger said.

Clevenger took the first report and stayed on scene as the area was cordoned off. Authorities weren't sure if the attacker was still inside the home, and for a while, no one went inside.

"Everything happened really fast," Clevenger said. "I wanted to go in the house, but in hindsight, knowing how forensics is now, it's probably better it was that way for the preservation of evidence."

Once the house was cleared, investigators found an unconscious and bloody Smith on the floor of the kitchen. The intruder was gone.

Both Smith and his girlfriend were rushed to the hospital for treatment.

"I was standing in the emergency room, and they wheeled my brother right by me," said Jerry Smith, Jim's younger brother. "He was beaten so bad I didn't even recognize him."

Jim Smith had brain surgery that night and was admitted to the hospital's intensive care unit. Jerry visited his brother, who was five years his senior, almost every day for the next four months. From the beginning, doctors weren't hopeful Jim would survive.

"You never give up hope," Jerry said. "The medical professionals, they weren't very optimistic, but they'd always say things happen that are beyond their control."

James "Jim" Larry Smith, a U.S. Marines veteran, member of the Racking Horse Breeders Association and Laurens Saddle Club, son, father and brother, died April 16, 1988, according to an obituary printed in the Herald-Journal. He was never able to say goodbye to family or point investigators to a suspect.

"We don't know if he ever saw the guy," Wood said.

Immediately after the crime, investigators found the bedroom ransacked. A few items from Smith's girlfriend's purse were found off a dirt road located on the other side of some thick woods behind the property. Authorities questioned family, friends and neighbors, looking for clues.

Profilers with the S.C. Law Enforcement Division and Federal Bureau of Investigation were called on to help fill in the gaps. Their reports — now among the many elements in a thick binder of evidence — point to the attacker being in his 20s or 30s and of average intelligence with perhaps some education. He might have a criminal history, according to the reports, and would be capable of adapting to situations as they develop. He would likely be a good worker, but probably an underachiever, and be good with his hands, but gravitate toward clean, manual labor. Quiet and serious, he wouldn't have much of a sense of humor, the profilers deducted.

Wood said investigators believe the attack was deliberate and could have been carried out by someone on the outer rings of the couple's social circle, but no concrete motive has been established. Regardless of who it was, Wood said the incident would likely have stayed with the killer.

"This would have an effect. Somebody would notice a difference in his behavior," Wood said, noting the assailant might have acted out violently since the attack. "This guy, he might verbalize his discontent towards the victims at some point. He may have made comments, but he may not have been specific."

Jerry Smith called his brother "the life of the party." He loved to hunt and fish, but his passion was riding and showing horses.

"Jim was a very outgoing person," Jerry said. "He was well-liked by most everybody that knew him."

Jerry said his mother and sister died in the years since Jim's murder, without getting any closure on the tragic death. They both held out hope, he said, that the person responsible would be brought to justice.

"Maybe somebody's got a guilty conscience, or somebody's got something and they've never said anything," Jerry said. "You never give up hope. Every now and then you hear of a case that's 20 or 30 years old that they solve. You always think about it."

If anyone has any information on this case, call CrimeStoppers at 1-888-CRIMESC or Investigator Allan Wood at 864-503-4577.

Coming next Sunday: The body of Ronald Sam Rogers was found on April 26, 1992, at the

end of a cul-de-sac near Duncan. Rogers, 26, was fatally shot with a smallcaliber handgun.

<p>On a cool December morning nearly 26 years ago, Jim Smith had breakfast at a favorite cafe. Someone snapped a photo that shows the military veteran smiling, wearing a white, collared shirt and bundled up in a black, leather jacket. It would be the last photo of him alive.</p><p>Just a few hours later, Smith would be fighting a losing battle for his life.</p><p>On Dec. 3, 1987, Smith was brutally attacked by an unknown intruder, shortly after walking through the door of the rural home on Murph Road in Pauline he shared with his girlfriend. The 45-year-old was hit multiple times in the head with a hammer, causing wounds so extensive that Smith never regained consciousness. He died four-and-a-half months later in a hospital bed.</p><p>Allan Wood, cold case investigator with the Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office, said that, even many years later, it's still a case that stands out in his mind. Someone, he said, knows something about why the crime was committed and by whom.</p><p>"I'd like to think we talked to the person who did this, but I don't know," Wood said.</p><p>Smith's girlfriend arrived home first that Thursday afternoon, according to reports. An unknown person, who she described to investigators at the time as sounding like a white man, was waiting inside the house when she walked through the door. He put something over her head and hit her.</p><p>Smith, a salesman with a communications company, came home a short time later and was also attacked. </p><p>According to a Herald-Journal article from July 5, 1988, police said that for about an hour, the man alternated between beating Smith and raping his girlfriend.</p><p>"I would say a person of no conscience did this. A person who is very cold, very brutal," Lt. Mike Ennis is quoted as saying in the article. "It's extremely rare to find the type of person with a psychological makeup that would allow them to beat, and beat, and beat on someone."</p><p>Smith's girlfriend was eventually able to escape and flagged down a passing truck. The driver took her to a neighbor's house, and authorities were called.</p><p>Spartanburg County Coroner Rusty Clevenger was on the scene within six minutes, arriving at 5:22 p.m., according to an incident report. He was on uniform patrol with the sheriff's office at the time and not long out of the academy. Looking back on that day, Clevenger remembers finding a woman, partially clothed, beaten and obviously shaken.</p><p>"All (homicides) kind of etch a memory in your mind, and with this one, it was the image of the woman in distress," Clevenger said.</p><p>Clevenger took the first report and stayed on scene as the area was cordoned off. Authorities weren't sure if the attacker was still inside the home, and for a while, no one went inside.</p><p>"Everything happened really fast," Clevenger said. "I wanted to go in the house, but in hindsight, knowing how forensics is now, it's probably better it was that way for the preservation of evidence."</p><p>Once the house was cleared, investigators found an unconscious and bloody Smith on the floor of the kitchen. The intruder was gone.</p><p>Both Smith and his girlfriend were rushed to the hospital for treatment.</p><p>"I was standing in the emergency room, and they wheeled my brother right by me," said Jerry Smith, Jim's younger brother. "He was beaten so bad I didn't even recognize him."</p><p>Jim Smith had brain surgery that night and was admitted to the hospital's intensive care unit. Jerry visited his brother, who was five years his senior, almost every day for the next four months. From the beginning, doctors weren't hopeful Jim would survive.</p><p>"You never give up hope," Jerry said. "The medical professionals, they weren't very optimistic, but they'd always say things happen that are beyond their control."</p><p>James "Jim" Larry Smith, a U.S. Marines veteran, member of the Racking Horse Breeders Association and Laurens Saddle Club, son, father and brother, died April 16, 1988, according to an obituary printed in the Herald-Journal. He was never able to say goodbye to family or point investigators to a suspect.</p><p>"We don't know if he ever saw the guy," Wood said.</p><p>Immediately after the crime, investigators found the bedroom ransacked. A few items from Smith's girlfriend's purse were found off a dirt road located on the other side of some thick woods behind the property. Authorities questioned family, friends and neighbors, looking for clues.</p><p>Profilers with the S.C. Law Enforcement Division and Federal Bureau of Investigation were called on to help fill in the gaps. Their reports — now among the many elements in a thick binder of evidence — point to the attacker being in his 20s or 30s and of average intelligence with perhaps some education. He might have a criminal history, according to the reports, and would be capable of adapting to situations as they develop. He would likely be a good worker, but probably an underachiever, and be good with his hands, but gravitate toward clean, manual labor. Quiet and serious, he wouldn't have much of a sense of humor, the profilers deducted.</p><p>Wood said investigators believe the attack was deliberate and could have been carried out by someone on the outer rings of the couple's social circle, but no concrete motive has been established. Regardless of who it was, Wood said the incident would likely have stayed with the killer.</p><p>"This would have an effect. Somebody would notice a difference in his behavior," Wood said, noting the assailant might have acted out violently since the attack. "This guy, he might verbalize his discontent towards the victims at some point. He may have made comments, but he may not have been specific."</p><p>Jerry Smith called his brother "the life of the party." He loved to hunt and fish, but his passion was riding and showing horses.</p><p>"Jim was a very outgoing person," Jerry said. "He was well-liked by most everybody that knew him."</p><p>Jerry said his mother and sister died in the years since Jim's murder, without getting any closure on the tragic death. They both held out hope, he said, that the person responsible would be brought to justice.</p><p>"Maybe somebody's got a guilty conscience, or somebody's got something and they've never said anything," Jerry said. "You never give up hope. Every now and then you hear of a case that's 20 or 30 years old that they solve. You always think about it."</p><p>If anyone has any information on this case, call CrimeStoppers at 1-888-CRIMESC or Investigator Allan Wood at 864-503-4577.</p><p>Coming next Sunday: The body of Ronald Sam Rogers was found on April 26, 1992, at the</p><p>end of a cul-de-sac near Duncan. Rogers, 26, was fatally shot with a smallcaliber handgun.</p>